All players must speak the same language at training and football will be the only topic of conversation at lunch

Swansea City have banned mobile phones as part of several new training ground rules aimed to banish the cliques that threatened to divide the dressing room last season.

Several times last term the Swans were forced to downplay suggestions of splits in the squad as the side struggled to pull away from relegation worries amid claims not enough was being done to pull players together.

But now new boss Garry Monk has spoken of his determination to maintain a renewed unity he believes was behind last weekend’s stunning opening-day win over Manchester United – as well as being key for further success this season.

It includes a series of new initiatives devised by the rookie manager to boost togetherness and a focus on his demands of improved standards.

The iniatiatives include banning mobile phones at mealtimes to encourage communication between team-mates and demanding all players use English ahead of their native tongue where possible, including hiring language tutors for signings such as £8m new-boy Federico Fernandez.

Federico Fernandez signs for Swansea City

Agents and hangers-on are now also banished from the club’s Fairwood and Landore training bases in the crucial final 48-hours before Premier League games and senior players, such as skipper Ashley Williams, have been urged to play an active role in helping new players settle into Swansea life.

Monk said: “I’ve put a lot of work into giving the senior players responsibility with the new boys which you need now more than ever.

“They need to go that extra yard with people you may not associate with outside of football. People talk about cliques and there are people you do naturally hang around or get on with more than others, but everyone needs to feel the same and part of things.

“So we’ve made sure that the players come out onto the training field together and they go back in together – everything is done together so they know they are all on the same level.

“At lunch they have to talk about football and they can’t be all on their mobile phones. It’s about getting them to talk, not about what’s gone on at the weekend, but our football.

“They all have iPads now with information from training and games and you can already hear them talking about that and not what Ant and Dec did on TV.

“And we’ve made a conscious effort that the players who come in and who don’t speak English have a tutor straight away. They can only speak English on the training ground and to be fair they have done – you can already see the improvements.

“When we signed some I was about to tell them that in this environment it has to be English but it’s something they brought up first and that they wanted to learn the language.

“I asked Bafe (Gomis) in America if he wanted me to get a translator in for a two-week period, but he wasn’t having any of it and he’s made the effort from the off.

(c) Huw Evans Picture Agency

Bafetimbi Gomis

“And it’s important because you can’t have interpreters, agents and other people around your training ground. They are not allowed in there on the two days before the game, it’s private to first-team staff and the players and we have to know in advance who’s going to be in here. It’s important to have that environment where they can’t be caught off guard.

“The group are very good with each other and have taken each other under their wings, things like the club not showing a new player around houses in the area but another player so they feel welcome and part of the squad. All these things add up.

“There are a lot of new things but they are things the players want – I wouldn’t bring something in if they didn’t think it was right and they’ve all bought into it. It’s so they have that group mentality and all the little touches can help you. It’s important because it is the players together that have to solve things on the pitch – I can’t help them make split-second decisions.

“Burnley will come here together with a unity we have to match – but if you don’t practise it and preach it you can’t expect it on a Saturday.”

Monk denied his attempts were in direct response to perceived rifts between players last year where a large contingent of Spanish players and a claimed lack of encouragement of integration played its part in a testing campaign.

Swansea were twice the subject of headlines after training ground rows, one of which included Monk after a clash with Chico Flores before the captain replaced Laudrup as manager.

But he is adamant such pre-emptive action will ensure the kind of togetherness and work ethic that played a large part in last week’s Old Trafford victory will not be a one off, returning to the kind of collective ethos hailed as key to Swans success over the past decade.

Swansea City Manager Garry Monk at Old Trafford

Monk has overseen the departure of several Spanish players this season, but has maintained his decisions were little to do with nationality, almost underlined by his eye-catching move for World Cup runner-up Fernandez.

The Argentina international is awaiting international clearance to discover whether he can feature against Burnley following his move from Napoli, Monk claiming he will have no problem selecting him given his experience and pedigree.

The fee represents a significant outlay for the club, but Monk said: “It is an important signing. Obviously Chico left and it was important we filled that gap and Federico more than does that.

“He is an Argentina international, played at a very high level with Napoli and was highly considered there. It’s important we improve all the time and he fits our profile, he is a good ball-playing centre-half, he is a good size and suits the way we play.

“Hopefully he can adapt as quickly as possible and offer us the quality he obviously possesses.”

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